marshmallow top hats and gergaoun

Gergaoun falls on the 14th night of Ramadan and when my children were small they loved to celebrate the occasion! Dressed in their traditional clothes (jalabiya and thobe), they would excitedly head out to their Grandfathers home during the evening… with their empty Gergaoun bags clutched tightly in-hand.

Together with their cousins, the children would visit the many houses around the neighborhood, receiving gifts of nuts and sweets which filled their empty Gergaoun bags. When all the houses had been visited, the children would return to their Grandfathers home proudly displaying overflowing Gergaoun bags and bursting to tell a few stories on some naughty older cousins that would partake in a dare called ding-dong-dash… leaving the younger children red-faced to do all the explaining! Older children would also parade around the neighborhood, entertaining children and adults with the popular mascot “Frasya” the horse-man, while beating drums and singing traditional songs.

As there was always quite a gathering of children and adults I usually contributed by making lots of little goodies for the occasion, cupcakes, small cakes, rice krispie buns, cookies and Marshmallow Top Hats! These sweet treats were always well received and my customary trays of goodies became a yearly traditionuntil… the children grew-up!

Marshmallow Top Hats are an old childhood sweet treat that my mother would make for our birthday parties, the squishy marshmallow with its chocolate chunk base and Smartie on top, always went down a treat! Making them for my own children’s parties and celebrations always proved popular. However, I did notice that some things never change... there is always thatone kid who would make an attempt to pick all the colourful sweets from the top of the marshmallows… usually having their attempts thwarted by some of the other party goers!

The recipe is super easy to make and young children will eagerly help with placing the marshmallows into the melted chocolate and sticking the colourful Smarties on top… usually avoiding the brown coloured ones! When packed individually into pretty little colourful gift boxesfor Gergaoun or other celebrations, these Marshmallow Top Hats make a delightful sweet treat for children!

Marshmallow Top Hats

Ingredients:

milk chocolate (your favourite brand), melted

marshmallows

colourful sweets of your choice

You will need small colourful paper cases for sweets

How to make: Place a teaspoon of melted chocolate into each paper case ( however many you are using) and place a marshmallow on top, gently pushing the marshmallow down into the chocolate.

Place a small dot of melted chocolate on the top of each marshmallow, then place a colourful sweet on top. Store in the fridge (covered) or in a cool place until the chocolate has set before serving.

Enjoy your kids when they are small… they quickly grow-up! Have you got any Marshmallow memories?

We do much the same in ireland on october 31st when we celebrate the eve of all saints day or as we call it hallowe’en . The kids visit neighbouring houses knocking on doors and calling “TRICK OR TREAT” so naturally its best to have the goodie bags ready and I am sure in many other countries around the world